June 25, 2014

Wikis: a collaborative group site




A wiki is a Web site that can be viewed and modified by using a Web browser. Thus anybody visiting the wiki can change its content whenever he or she wants. Wikis are collaborative group sites. Wikis permit communication and group collaboration across the web. Described as a composition system, a discussion platform, a host site, a mailing system, and a tool for collaboration, wikis give users with both author an editor privileges; the whole organization of contributions and the content can be edited. Wikis can incorporate audio, movies, and images; It is a good way to create multimedia presentations and digital stories. What makes a wiki different from a blog is that many people can work on the same topic or content. This is, a single article could have as many authors as many hundreds of readers. It is quite different from a blog where an article will usually be written by only one author. Some blogs are the efforts of multiple bloggers, nevertheless, a single piece of content is generally attributed to a single blogger. In some cases, an editor could review the article to make some observation, but it usually doesn't make much difference. It is the collaborative effort that makes wikis so great.
As far as the implications for teaching and learning, wikis could be the easiest and most effective Web-based collaboration tool in any instructional portfolio. They give students direct and immediate access to a site’s content. This is crucial in group editing or other project activities. Wikis are often used as e-portfolios, showing their utility as a means for collection and reflection. Not only are wikis limited to students. Administrative and teaching staff can use wikis to collaborate on projects, editing a textbook, writing a journal article, or preparing a syllabus. Only  one’s  imagination  and  time can limit the possibilities to use wikis as the platform for collaborative projects.

https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7004.pdf

http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/what_is_a_wiki.htm


In the following video you can see a short explanation of wikis and how they can be used to coordinate a group:



June 5, 2014

Blogging





Blogging is very popular today because it allows people to interact with each other. Blogging has also become a popular tool because search engines like Google and Yahoo know that a blog is frequently updated with content or visitor comments, so they frequently look for new content to include in their index.
Additionally, blog content can be delivered automatically via electronic RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds. Visitors subscribe to a blog's feeds in order to stay up to date with content that's being posted on subjects that interest them. Blog feeds are then read by what's known as blog feed reader software, widely available for free, so users can scan for recent blog posts of interest on the blogs to which they subscribe.
Blogging doesn't require that writers and contributors know a lot about HTML (Web page code). If a blogger or visitor can fill in an online form, they can blog and post comments on other blogs.
Each posting written is dated and presented in chronological order. Each post has a link visitors can use to post their own comments. When you write and publish a post using blogging software, you are blogging. When visitors click the link and leave a comment, in a sense, they too are blogging because they are interacting with the blog writer.
The information that people often post in a blog is news. According to integralwebsolutions.co.za, blogging is the new media of the 22nd century. It is online news. It is your news, and my news. Blogging is about what affects you and I personally on a daily basis.
When you log into a blog you start connecting with others, building a community. You start asking questions and receiving answers and feedback. You also help others and gain many friends online.
While it is true that you do not need especial knowledge on programming, to be successful on blogging you need to be well acquainted with the topics you post and need to have reliable sources of information. Also, you need to be responsible, ethically speaking, and you should not present information or material of others as yours. Another important aspect to consider when you blog is the timing required to be able to maintain the blog updated. Your audience will always look forward to reading your next post. So, you need to make sure that your posts are published timely.

Finally, blogging is an excellent way to communicate and interact with people online no matter the time, space or distance. Blogging is a sort of alternative to newspapers, radio and TV news. With the help of digital technology, in general, you yourself can, not only publish and interchange information with people, but also contact them in a virtual community that you yourself have previously built.

Here I recommend you the following tutorial: "How to Make a Blog-Step by Step for beginners."






REFERENCES

http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog/EntryId/464/What-is-the-meaning-of-blogging.aspx
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blog

The Future of the Internet




The Internet has made many changes in the life of everybody in today’s society. People connect to each other in multiple ways. There are always new ways to connect with friends and family. Nevertheless, the Internet and the World Wide Web are still relatively young. The public web is scarcely 25 years old, still growing and doesn’t seem to stop showing improvements for the future.

Many people think that the Internet will become like electricity during the next decade, you can almost see it out there, though it is quite relevant and related to your life. While it is true that the Internet will continue to grow, some experts conclude that there could be many implications. In fact, there will be many changes on the internet, but the way these changes will affect the people’s lives is still uncertain. According to some surveys, people think that the changes and innovations on the internet can be as much as positive as negative. Interpersonal ethics, surveillance, terror and crime are the most important concerns.

Here I want you to read the following predictions over the Internet which are featured on a report released by Digital Life at 2025:

·        Information sharing over the Internet will be so effortlessly interwoven into daily life that it will become invisible, flowing like electricity, often through machine intermediaries.
·         The spread of the Internet will enhance global connectivity, fostering more positive relationships among societies.
·         The Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data will make people more aware of their world and their own behavior.
·          Augmented reality and wearable devices will be implemented to monitor and give quick feedback on daily life, especially in regard to personal health.
·          Political awareness and action will be facilitated and more peaceful change, and more public uprisings like the Arab Spring will emerge.
·          The spread of the “Ubernet” will diminish the meaning of borders, and new “nations” of those with shared interests may emerge online and exist beyond the capacity of current nation-states to control.
·         The Internet will become “the Internets” as access, systems and principles are renegotiated.
·         An Internet-enabled revolution in education will spread more opportunities with less money spent on buildings and teachers.
·         Dangerous divides between haves and have-nots may expand, resulting in resentment and possible violence.
·         Abuses and abusers will ‘evolve and scale.’ Human nature isn’t changing; there’s laziness, bullying, stalking, stupidity, pornography, dirty tricks, crime, and the offenders will have new capacity to make life miserable for others.
·         Pressured by these changes, governments and corporations will try to assert power – and at times succeed – as they invoke security and cultural norms.
·         People will continue – sometimes grudgingly – to make tradeoffs favoring convenience and perceived immediate gains over privacy; and privacy will be something only the upscale will enjoy.
·         Humans and their current organizations may not respond quickly enough to challenges presented by complex networks.
·         Most people are not yet noticing the profound changes today’s communications networks are already bringing about; these networks will be even more disruptive in the future.
·         Foresight and accurate predictions can make a difference; “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”


From my point of view, I can conclude that the Internet will be comparable to all kinds of weapons invented by mankind. It is up to you the use you are willing to make of the Internet. Only you decide what to do with all the benefits and advantages that the World Wide Web and other webs render available for everybody. 

REFERENCES

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/15-predictions-future-internet/
http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/